That day, Ribeta was beaten within an inch of her life. It was a horrific memory. After that day, Ribeta was careful not to let even a single hair touch Melissa’s belongings.

And now, not just Melissa, but a stand-in for Lady Barea?

‘Even if I don’t want to, even if I can’t, I have to.’

It wasn’t because she wanted to wear beautiful dresses and jewelry. She didn’t want the life of a countess of Ruperto either, guaranteed wealth, honor, and power.

What pulled Ribeta from the swamp of brutal memories—where scissors cut her skin and whips rained down—was the word Diego had spoken.

Freedom.

She had already prepared herself for death in Lerrbatia. Having resolved to die, what couldn’t she do? It wasn’t as if there was no way to freedom, and Diego’s proposal was certainly attractive. Two years. If she could just fulfill the role of a stand-in for two years.

Above all, her transaction partner was none other than Diego Ruperto himself.

Ribeta trusted Diego, not herself. She trusted him, who said he liked transactions, who said humans themselves were excellent assets.

‘Count Ruperto isn’t someone who would let me fail. He must have made the offer because he’s confident he can make me succeed.’

Once she made her decision, her heart felt surprisingly at ease. Sunlight poured brightly into the room.

Ribeta stood before the mirror. To serve as Lady Barea’s stand-in, disguise was essential. There weren’t many days left to see her undisguised self.

She swept her hair back with her fingers and turned her body. Touching the slave brand stamped on her left shoulder, she murmured softly.

“Can even someone like me…… obtain freedom?”

※※※

Diego was certain he hadn’t misjudged her. And that certainty made him very pleased.

Ribeta was prudent and composed. And she had no unnecessary greed.

If he proposed marriage, there were two main reactions ordinary people would show.

One was to light up and eagerly try to seize the opportunity. Diego Ruperto’s wealth was so vast that even Duke Barea, a nobleman of high prestige, would covet it. It was a level that commoners or slaves couldn’t even glimpse even if they worked their entire lives. If she married him and became a countess, wouldn’t she be able to enjoy at least a fragment of that wealth, if not all of it?

The other was to be overly suspicious and worried about Diego’s proposal. More precisely, they would fear his change of heart. He might like me today, but there’s no guarantee this feeling will continue tomorrow or the day after. When his feelings cool and his whim ends, the marriage will become meaningless. Something like that. Believing only the rumors that Diego Ruperto was very capricious and impulsive.

“How naive they all are.”

Diego sneered. That’s what rumors are. Formless things spread through countless people’s mouths, and if just a little time passes, not only the person who first spread the rumor but even what the original rumor was becomes impossible to discover.

People don’t try to discern what’s true and what’s false, nor do they need to. To them, rumors are like wind that stays for a moment and then disperses. That formless, odorless thing doesn’t matter at all, even if it’s completely removed from the truth. Because it has no effect on those who speak the rumors.

Thus rumors sometimes become truth, and the truth that’s forgotten and obscured in this way dreams of a very dangerous and insidious world.

That was the reason Diego Ruperto could act as he pleased without any constraints until now.

No one would know. What Diego Ruperto, who seemed obsessed with slaves and recklessly spent money, was doing beneath the surface.

‘That woman was different.’

She hadn’t lit up at his proposal, nor had she been overly suspicious. As for worrying about his change of heart, that wasn’t it either.

From the start, she had noticed that this marriage wasn’t based on the emotion called ‘love.’ Even before he spoke about the contract.

Diego was someone with a natural talent for discerning others’ desires. While the desires humans harbor differ from person to person, if someone appears who can easily fulfill those desires, humans become swept up by that ‘someone’ rather than their desires from that point on.

When Diego glimpsed Ribeta’s desire, he was honestly a bit surprised. He had seen many human desires until now, but one as complex and sophisticated as Ribeta’s was rare.

Freedom. The freedom she wanted wasn’t the kind that could be obtained simply by escaping status of a slave. Her status was merely the largest and heaviest chain currently constricting her.

What she truly wanted was freedom in the truest sense—wanting to live according to her free will. Not dominated by anyone, not constrained by anyone.

But how could that be easy? Even he—with plenty of money, decent status, solid power, and looks that wouldn’t be outshone anywhere—couldn’t live freely every day, every moment.

Well, still. Between a smart and thoughtful person with sophisticated desires and a stupid person with simple, easy desires who doesn’t even know their own worth or place—if asked which one to marry, he would naturally choose the former.

Diego was pleased. He was a man full of confidence and belief in himself, but whenever he confirmed his excellent judgment like this, he felt very pleased.

The thrill of finding a pearl buried in mud was especially incomparable to anything else. Even more so when that pearl was a pure gem untouched by anyone else’s hands.

“Witty too. And rather bold.”

Diego tried to unfold the letter on the table to read it again. But he sensed a presence outside the door, which had been quiet all along. Soon Luca knocked and opened the door just slightly, saying:

“That woman has come saying she has something to tell you, Diego. What should I do?”

“If she’ll wait until my work is finished, let her in.”

“She says she’ll wait. I’ll let her in.”

Ribeta entered without a sound. Though no footsteps could be heard, the rustling of her clothes clearly reached Diego’s ears.

Diego deliberately moved more slowly than usual. When he unfolded the letter, he heard the small sound of Ribeta swallowing, as if she recognized it.

Only after savoring each letter of the answer she had written in front of her did he raise his eyes—and found himself slightly surprised, unlike him.

“I apologize for visiting when you’re busy. I thought it would be better to tell you as soon as possible.”

Ribeta, wearing the dress and jewelry Diego had sent, lifted her skirt slightly and greeted him. Diego, who had been sitting at an angle with his finger at his temple, straightened his posture.

The crimson dress suited Ribeta remarkably well. Far more than he had expected.

“It suits you well. Beautiful.”

Ribeta blinked. She seemed not to have expected praise. Soon she lowered her eyes, gave a small thanks, and said composedly:

“I will accept your proposal, Count.”

“A rational decision.”

Diego stood with a satisfied look and extended his right hand to Ribeta. With an elegant yet bold movement, tinged with his characteristic arrogance.

Ribeta took that hand. At the touch that felt no hesitation or contemplation whatsoever, Diego finally curled his lips upward.

“Well then, shall we go?”

“Where……?”

“To formally propose to you.”

A proposal? For a contract marriage, was such a procedure really necessary? She was just a stand-in for Lady Barea anyway, and the real lady wasn’t even here.

As if reading Ribeta’s thoughts, he shook his head lightly. His face, devoid of laughter, was serious.

“Even if it’s a contract marriage, it’s a first, isn’t it? We should do it properly.”

Speaking in a dry tone without inflection, Diego kissed the back of Ribeta’s hand. The skin touching his cold lips was soft and warm.

※※※

The place Diego took Ribeta after kissing the back of her hand was that garden from yesterday.

Not much time had passed, and only what floated in the sky had changed from moon to sun, yet it felt like quite a lot had changed. The white flowers that had glowed mysteriously under the moonlight flaunted their intense vitality under the sunlight.